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Sneaky High-Sugar Foods: How to Replace Them With Lower Sugar Versions

Film director Stephanie Soechtig blew the lid off of the bottle water industry with the 2009 documentary “Tapped,” and now she’s taking on the food industry with the new eye-opener, “Fed Up.” And the sugar statistics are scary. While the World Health Organization recommends no more than 10 percent of daily calories should come from sugar, the new documentary drops this frightening fact: Of the more than 600,000 food products sold in supermarkets in the United States, 80 percent have added sugar.

Evaporated cane juice, glucose-fructose honey … they all mean the same thing, so check out five surprising high sugar foods and five ways to replace them with lower sugar versions.

Ketchup

The everyday condiment has a deceiving amount of sugar: One tablespoon can contain up to 4 grams. If you don’t like artificial sweeteners (Heinz makes reduced sugar ketchup, but it contains sucralose), Walden Farms Ketchup has “no calories, fat, carbs, gluten or sugars of any kind.”

Yogurt

In addition to natural sugars from the lactose, some yogurt brands contain more sugar than two Krispy Kreme donuts! Plain yogurts have less sugar than the flavored varieties, so Dr. Mehmet Oz’s website recommends Stoneyfield Greek Vanilla (12 grams of sugar).

Frozen Pizza

Many pizza dough recipes contain sugar (it reacts with the yeast to make the dough rise.) There’s also sugar in the tomato sauce. According to an article on SF Gate, an average slice of frozen pizza has up to 6 grams of sugar. And that’s before the toppings! Minimize the sugar by making thin crust pizza and slashing the sauce amount. Stick to low fat cheese and veggie toppings.

Pasta Sauce

Why do so many tomato products have added sugar in them? To offset the acidity. So perhaps that explains why ½ cup of a standard jarred sauce can have more than 10 grams of sugar. Bon Appetit recently rated supermarket pasta sauce brands, and the lowest sugar high-rated jarred brand was Amy’s Family Marinara Pasta Sauce , with 5 grams of sugar. Of course, nothing beats homemade and that’s the best way to really control the sugar content.

Reduced Fat Peanut Butter

Don’t be misled by reduced fat peanut butters. According to Men’s Health, while the reduced versions do contain a tad less fat, some brands have double the sugar of their full fat counterparts. Instead, look for an all-natural brand that contains just peanuts and salt.